Neap Tides
by xOwleX
Summary: Sora is the child of a merman, Cloud, and a human, Squall; an act forbidden by Atlantica law. When Cloud is captured by Atlantica soldiers he tells Sora to go find his other father. But when Sora washes up on the shore with no tale, a young man by the name of Riku takes him home to his master, Leon. But Sora is looking for a man named Squall, not Leon. Main: Soriku & Cleon.
1. Prologue

Hey guys! Man, it's been a LONG time since I did a Soriku story. Anyway, lol.

This story came to mind when I was in science class watching a video about marine life, and then it showed dolphins (mammal, not the fish..those are ugly. lol) And I was all like, "Hey, Sora is part human and part mammal in Atlantica...none of those breathe water...HOW THE HELL DID HE NOT HAVE TO COME UP FOR AIR IN ATLANTICA?" xD Anyway, So I brought that topic up to my friend and then somehow this was born...^^ lol. Though I wasn't quite sure whether to put it under the Cloud/Leon category or the Sora/Riku category. So I just went with the latter. But Soriku will happen eventually, after a couple chapters or so. :) I just got to get the story rolling first.

and **READ THIS PLEASE! :)** I would like to recommend that you listen to 'Dolphin Dreams Melody oceans Zen and Relaxation' on Youtube while reading this! xD It's about an hour long (You don't have to listen to the full hour obviously, lol). I love to listen to it while I write this story. The first couple seconds are just wave sounds, but it gets sooo much better. lol. It's such a pretty song. And also the reason why this is called **Neap Tides **is also because of Science class. xD I was like, maybe they could get pregnant due to the moons magnetic pool or something! Like, men get fertile during the neap tides! So we both agreed on that. lol

and also, I did some research and I _think _babies come from the cloaca? I couldn't find a solid answer...so if you know, please tell me! xD

Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy, Kindom Hearts, Disney, or the characters. This is purely for fun, as to why it is called FANFICTION. and I don't own the song that I like to listen to while writing this. the Dolphin dreams one. Don't know if I had to put that in here or not...but for safe measure I did. **

* * *

"Ahh!" Cloud screamed while grasping Zack's hand; the two younger Strife brothers watching in awe at the magic that was being preformed right in front of their eyes. Cloud's aquamarine tail flashed about on the bottom of the small undersea cavern that they took refuge in for the birth as he writhed in pain. Aerith's calm voice was trying to soothe him as he pushed. Cichlid blue eyes clenched shut while teeth grit together, seething hisses escaping him as he tried to cope with the pain. _'I want him here. I want him to be here with me so bad'_, but that was impossible.

Olette was at her father's side, her little salmon colored tail swaying back and forth in anticipation for the new baby. Zack ran his free hand through his daughter's hair while the other was being occupied by Cloud's squeezing one.

"Almost there, Cloud." Aerith beamed at him, her brown braided hair flowing behind her. She could just see the crown of the babe's head. This was going to be a live birth that she was dealing with, not just the pushing of eggs out of a mother's cloaca.

That was something unique about mermaids, being half human and half fish; they are both viviparous and oviparous, meaning that they can carry both eggs and live young. Because of this they were perched in a concave like structure of the cavern, pretty close to the surface, just incase the baby needed air, especially in Cloud's case.

"Wow." Roxas beamed, his hands clasped around his twin's. Ventus could not take his eyes off of the sight in front of him; his brother's swollen belly. Finally it was coming, his anticipated niece or nephew.

"Guhn." Cloud grunted in pain, his tears becoming invisible in the salty water that surrounded them. _'Squall…' _

He let out another pained yell as Aerith carefully guided the baby out after one last push from Cloud. All of the fluids enveloped the water, turning it a murky black color with streaks of red as the tendrils of mucous and other unnamed substances escaped Cloud's cloaca.

He let out a sigh of relief once it was over, the pain finally easing. He peaked open his eyes as he saw the wiggling form of his baby's tale. Aerith carefully took a sharp rock and sliced the umbilical chord, afterward taking the newborn into her arms and swimming up to the water's surface. Once she got a full view of him, she brought him back down for Cloud to see. "It's a boy, Cloud." Aerith smiled at him as she handed the baby over to his father. Roxas and Ventus immediately swam to Cloud's side to take a look at the new member of their family. It was just as everyone suspected, since Cloud was a merman and Squall was not. The baby had a beautiful ultramarine tale, that of a dolphin and it was the same color as the eyes that were now looking up into Cloud's own. The baby wasn't fully a merman, he didn't have a fish tale, instead, it was that of a mammal, making the fact that Cloud had mated with a human obvious. The tuffs of brown hair made Cloud chuckle, "You look so much like him."

He smiled as he ran his fingers through the fine hairs atop his head, watching the baby let out a small smile as Cloud cradled him in his arms, close to his chest.

"What are you gonna name him Cloud?" Roxas whispered at Cloud's side. Olette had her hands on her mouth as she was in awe looking at the newborn baby.

The rays from the sun were shining down on them since they were only a few yards away from the surface. The land and everything else that was above the ocean was a part of who his child was, and he couldn't have been happier, even though the act he performed with Squall was punishable by death. The light rays of discoloration that broke through the surface ran over Cloud's eyes as he looked upwards toward the other half of the world that his child was unknowingly a part of. An obscure view of pelicans flew over the water up in the sky, swirling around like there wasn't a care in the world. The light blue heavens held hardly any clouds except for the few happy wisps that took their residence up there. It was the same sky their baby was made under. Cloud held his breath as he bit his lip, a smile wanting to break its way across his face. "Sora." He grinned as the baby latched himself onto Cloud's finger, "His name is Sora."

* * *

Yay! Prologue is done! So what do you guys think of it so far? I know it's just the prologue...but I must say, I'm pretty proud of it. I'm currently working on the next chapter for this in my off-time at school when I'm not doing homework, working or in class. College...you gotta love it...actually, no you don't. haha, well I will see you next time! (Hopefully that won't be too long...I have to update one of my Cloud/Leon fics first...most likely it will be 'Four out of Five' for those of you that keep up with my stories. ^^) Take care guys, and please review! Reviews make me update faster!


	2. Neap Tides: Chapter 1

Hey guys! man, this is the fastest that I have updated in a while! But due to some persistent reviewers, I updated this early. ;) And I was just in a writing mood. lol

So! Some things you should probably know, Zack and Aerith are married and have a girl named Olette...if you haven't figured that out already. I just think that Olette is such a cute daughter for them! Also, some AkuRoku and Ven/Terra will occur, but that will be later on in the story. :P

**Aerwyna is an English name meaning "Friend of the Sea" **got that from a baby name website...xD

And also...I apologize for this chapter being so short...just...yeah, sorry. I didn't really think that much else needed to be said. xD Oh yeah, and Sora will refer to Cloud as Daddy and Leon as Papa in this chapter. And Cloud met Squall when he looked like he does in Final Fantasy VIII, and when he is now referred to as Leon, he looks like he does in KH2, just ya know, in period clothes and stuff. xP

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or Disney! **

* * *

Seven years later…

The underwater village of Aerwyna was a quiet and quaint town, miles away from the capitol of Atlantica. The sounds resonating from the village were filled with the relaxing chatter of its merfolk residences going about their day to day lives; some checking out the produce in the market, and others tending to their undersea gardens while the children were off at school, learning and playing the day away.

Cloud was no exception to this. On this fine morning in Aerwyna he was in the village market, being greeted by all of the sweet aromas that entered his nostrils from the open carts of produce. He had asked his son what he would like for dinner before he left to go to school with the other merchildren of the village, and Sora had eagerly replied with the answer; mollusks. As Cloud looked up and down the aisles of merchandise in the market he found that the mollusks were all in a faded yellow bin, the vendor behind them shouting at the passersby to purchase some of the "finest mollusks the ocean has to offer". Right next to him was a vender selling moss, which had been woven together with seaweed to make fine blankets and scarves for the cooler currents. Zack was beside him, looking at other vendors and their merchandise.

"Hey, Cloud! Look at these!" Zack turned and grabbed a shell bra from the stand in front of him and put it up to his chest.

Cloud took out his net that he had brought for the mollusks and smirked lightly at Zack's behavior, "Are they for you or for Aerith?" He chuckled as he turned his attention back to his task at hand, searching through all of the scallops and clams that he knew were his son's favorite. Picking up one of the clams, he inspected the shell, just to make sure it hadn't been chipped before placing it in his net, along with his other selections.

"How rude! I thought I looked good in them." Zack joked playfully before placing them back on the table in front of him, leaving the woman merchant in shock for what he had done with her product.

"Will that be all for you today?" the mollusk merchant asked as Cloud handed him his net full of mollusks, "I believe so, sir." Cloud nodded as he grabbed some gil out of his pouch as the seller added up his total. "That will be a total of twenty-two gil."

Cloud handed over the gil and slung his pouch over his body, the strap resting across his torso, while he grabbed his and his son's dinner for the evening.

"Mollusks, huh?" Zack raised a thin brow.

Cloud smirked and shook his head as he swam off with Zack to pick up their kids from school. They had a good thirty minutes before the school let out so they decided to wait for them at the drop off spot. It was always a joy to pick up Sora from school. Cloud loved hearing about how his son's day went and what he had learned. He only wished that Squall could be there with him.

Squall…he didn't even know that Sora had been born. The product of their love making that fateful night had been kept a secret ever since word had reached the capitol about what Cloud had been doing with a human. After the reward was out for his head Cloud quickly left Squall a note and a token of something to remember him by. He delivered it at midnight, saying that one day he would return to him. He didn't mention anything about being pregnant because it was still too early to be certain. But after that, he and his two brothers, along with Zack and Aerith helped him escape into farther waters, places where the soldiers of Atlantica would not ever bother looking. And it was there, in hiding when Cloud told everyone that he was pregnant with Squall's child. Nothing could have made him happier than carrying their baby, or more heartbroken. He couldn't go back to Squall and tell him about their little miracle because by then Atlantica soldiers were patrolling the shallower waters all along the coastline. There was no way that Cloud would get passed them alive, and he wouldn't risk his son's life for that. Sora was his whole world and there was nothing more that Cloud wanted to do than be reunited with his love and have him be a part of Sora's life, but that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

The only reason Sora wasn't brought into some sort of custody when he and Cloud moved into the village, due to his obvious mammal tail, was because Cloud said that he had found Sora swimming around helpless when he was a only a couple days old, so he had no idea why Sora had a dolphin tail. But his brothers and close friends new differently, even Sora knew not to say anything different when asked about it. It was hard for a boy that liked to talk so much to keep a secret, but he knew the stakes that were at hand. Of course Cloud didn't tell him that if the Atlantica soldiers were to find him they would capture him and kill him, he just said that if he ever spoke the truth to anyone that wasn't Zack, Aerith, Olette, or his uncles, that something very bad would happen. He hated it that his son had to keep his family a lie, it hurt him to no end.

"Cloud?"

Cloud blinked and shook his head, blonde hair floating from side to side as he eased away his thoughts, bringing his attention to Zack.

"Watcha thinkin' about? You looked pretty dazed there." Zack chuckled and playfully shoved Cloud's shoulder.

Cloud sadly smiled and looked in the direction toward the school that would soon let out, "Just thinking…about things." He turned and gave Zack a small smirk. That was enough to make Zack give him an unsure look, but all the same, it made him quiet until kids started to poor out of the school. Once the kids started to leave, Zack swam over to the front entrance to give his twelve year old daughter a warm welcome. Cloud however stayed put. He didn't want to lose Sora by being in the mess of kids as well.

Crystal blue eyes darted around the children until he spotted his own. Nothing could stop the smile that adorned his face as Sora made eye contact with him and swam as hard as he could over to his father. "Daddy!" Sora yelled for him as he swam, having to adjust his netted messenger bag so it wouldn't fall off. Cloud held out his arms, careful to not lose his grip on their dinner when Sora darted into his chest, small arms trying to reach around his father's torso in a hug.

Cloud returned the embrace and kissed his son's head before leaning back. Sora smiled up at him, his arms still holding onto his father's body, "I have so much to tell you today!" He grinned, his duke blue eyes showing his excitement before darting around to look at the net that Cloud held up, "Mollusks!" He grabbed the bag and examined its contents, his eyes in aw and his mouth salivating.

"That's what you asked for, right?" Cloud smirked and ruffled Sora's brown hair, making his son giggle.

"Hey, Uncle Cloud!" Olette smiled as she swam over to them, her father far behind.

"Sweety! Where're you goin'?" Zack's voice called over.

Olette's mood turned sour as she rolled her eyes, "Dad! Go away! You're embarrassing me!" She tried to make herself become smaller as her father made his way over.

"Awww man!" She whined as Zack caught up to her.

"Aw, come on! What did I do?" He swam up and hugged her, "What happened to my baby girl?"

"Daaaaad! Stop it!" She yelled at him and tried to get out of his grip while Zack pouted and looked hurt.

Once she got out of his grasp she swam away and turned toward him, her fists clenched.  
"Ugh! I cannot believe you!" She turned and swam away toward home while Zack stared dumbfound and turned to Cloud. "What did I do? It was like just yesterday she couldn't wait for me to pick her up from school."

Cloud smirked and grabbed Sora's hand, "She's twelve. Isn't this supposed to happen? Her being embarrassed of you?"

Zack stuck out his bottom lip and begrudgingly started his way home. "What did you say to her anyway?" Cloud asked.

"Nothing! I just saw her, stuck my arms out and said 'Suger-shark! How was my baby's day?' And then she looked appalled and swam off."

Sora giggled while Cloud raised his eyebrows. "I probably would have swum away too."

* * *

"Master Leon." A servant came up to his chambers and took a sudden chill when the cool sea air moved around his body. Leon was by the window, his elbow up on the window sill as he stood by the opening that looked out over the sea. Everyday he would watch the ocean, hoping, _praying, _that he would come back. It's been seven years but even so…

The last time Leon saw him…it was magical, but when he returned the next day to their original spot he was left with only a necklace, made with scrap silver that had been found in sunken ships and a letter which described the necklace and it's meaning. It also held the promise of him coming back again one day. _'Cloud…'_

"Master Leon." The servant repeated again. Stormy eyes glared over at him, making the poor boy shiver with fear and want to run away. "What?"

"I-it's um. A family, sir."

Leon let out a long sigh. Just because his father was the president of Esthar everyone seemed to come to Leon for their problems if they couldn't get in contact with his dad.

"Alright. I'll be down in a moment." He dismissed the scared servant and took one last look out of the top window of his mansion. Leon has lived in this mansion on Destiny Islands ever since he was a baby. His father wanted him to grow up in a nice home, away from war and destruction, which was currently happening in Esthar, so he sent him and his wet nurse, along with a few dozen of his butlers and maids to live with them on Destiny Islands. Apparently the move was permanent. And that was just fine with Leon.

During the time he spent there he was trained in the skill of the gunblade, learned how to fish, and to his dismay, learned how to settle legal matters and deal with everyone's problems.

After what seemed about five minutes he eventually kicked himself off of the wall he was leaning on and went downstairs, only to be greeted by a peasant family, consisting of a son and a father. The elder tried to keep a hold on his composure, "Sire-"

"I'm no 'Sire'." Leon spoke harshly, stopping in the middle of the staircase.

The father tensed up and put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Well then, um…Master Leon-"

"And I am not your master. You do not work for me." He was silent after watching the father try to figure out what to say. "'Leon' will do." The brunette nodded. "Speak your purpose here. What are your names? What do you want?" He spoke rather harshly. Not as harsh as he intended, but he wanted to get back to looking at the ocean and being lost in his thoughts of what could have been.

The man hesitated before speaking. "L-Leon…My name is Kadaj, and this is my son, Riku." He choked on his own words as his son turned to look up at him with confused eyes. His father tried to put on a nice smile for him as he looked back up at Leon.  
"His mother died in childbirth." Leon gave a curt nod, not really caring, but trying to remain sympathetic. "So what is it you want? Money? I can't just hand that stuff out, or else all of Destiny Islands will be at my door."

Kadaj's head shook slowly, "No Sire-Leon. It…I have come to give you my son."

Little turquoise eyes shot up at his father and he started to cry. His father looked down with a sorrowful expression as tears started to trickle down his face as well. He reluctantly looked up at Leon who seemed to be in a state of shock.

"What?"

"I said I have come here to give you my son." His voice cracked all though out the sentence. "I have no money to buy goods to feed him. The crops are not growing well this year; I have no source of income. By selling what I have I will not get enough to take care of us both, so please sir, if you can, please take care of my son." He pleaded.

Leon furrowed his brows together, "I am no baby sitter." A flash of panic crossed the man's face and it triggered something inside Leon, something almost on the side of paternal, "But…I will take care of him." He sighed as he rubbed the scar between his eyebrows.

Kadaj was so overwhelmed with what he had just heard that he started smiling and picking up Riku and swinging him around. "Did you hear that, Riku? You'll be safe! You won't have to go hungry anymore, and you will have a roof over your head that won't leak." Kadaj was pink with how giddy he was, but Riku started crying even harder at the thought of not being able to live with his dad, to just be handed over to someone else that he didn't even know. "Shhh, shhh. It'll be okay. I promise." He kissed his son's forehead. He wished that he could be there to see him when he was absent from all of the dirt on his face and mud that had taken residence in his hair.

Leon looked on fondly at them, something in his heart tearing. He quickly gathered his emotions, "But."

Kadaj slowly put Riku down, who was now crying into his father's tattered pants, and not letting go of his hand. Kadaj nodded for Leon to continue, showing that he was listening.

"Your boy will be put to work. He must do as he is told, and he must not complain. Shiva knows I _hate_ complaining."

"Oh, yes sir! Riku is an excellent worker! Before, he would always be eager to help me pick the crops, and follow me into the market to sell. He is a good boy and will do as he is told! Just…promise me that…that you will take good care of him." He knew that it was almost forbidden to ask something of someone of higher status for your own benefit. But he had to know. He had to know if Riku was going to be safe.

Leon looked down at the duo before descending the remaining steps, so he could face Kadaj eye to eye, as an equal. Leon nodded once, his brown hair barely moving at the gesture. "He will be well fed. He will be given his own bed in the servants' quarters and I will make sure that he is well cared for."

Kadaj hesitantly nodded as a stray tear fell. This was the moment that he had been dreading, the giving up of his son. Leon bent down on one knee and held out his hand for Riku to take. Kadaj gave his son a slight push on his back, but he was met with resistance. Riku refused to move. There was nothing more that he wanted to do than to go back home and have his daddy tell him a story. His face became even more disfigured as an onslaught of tears overcame him. He started to shake his head and back up next to his father, "Riku-" Kadaj scolded lightly, but was interrupted by Leon.

"Riku." He lowered his hand some, maybe that would be less intimidating. The boy scarcely looked at him. He had his fingers in his mouth so he wouldn't scream anymore. He had tried to be strong when his daddy first said that he was giving him up to this man, but it hurt more than ever to actually hear those words. "Riku, how old are you?"

The boy stayed silent until Kadaj gave him a light pat on the back. The small boy hiccupped and rubbed at his eyes, "Eig-eight." He wiped his runny nose on his dirty sleeve as he tried to cave in on himself. He just wanted to go home. "Riku. You are a big boy, right?"

The boy looked up to his dad, who only nodded. He looked back to the scarred man and in a raspy voice said, "Yes."

Leon tried to give the most understanding look that he could give to the boy, "Well, even big boys need their daddies." Saying the word 'daddies' sounded so foreign to him; he himself had never used it, but he thought that it might bring some comfort to the boy.

Both sets of aquamarine eyes became wide, "What? I-I mean, what did you say sir?" Kadaj stammered.

"Kadaj." Leon stood up to become eye level with the older man again, "I do not have enough room for you and your son both. But I will not keep him from you. I will house him, yes. And he will work for me, his payment being that he has a roof and a full belly at night. But he can see you whenever he likes, as long as he tells me first."

Riku seemed to be paying attention now, "Mi-mister? You really mean it?"

Leon looked down at him again and smirked, "That will be 'Master Leon' to you now."

Riku took in a breath and blushed "Y-yes Master Leon." He tried to say with confidence.

"Oh, thank you, sir!" Kadaj smiled at him, "Oh, thank you!" He wanted to pull the brunette man into a hug, but he feared that that act might get him killed, or worse, not able to see his son while he was kept in said man's house.

"You say you have enough to feed yourself, but not the both of you."

"Yes, sir, barely enough for myself. But as long as Riku is in your care, I could go without food for years and still be the happiest man alive."

"Riku?" Leon held out his hand again, and this time Riku took it on his own, though a bit hesitant. "If you want, when you go visit your father, you can bring him some food."

Kadaj could hardly believe what he was hearing. This _evil, mean, stoic, _Leon that he has heard about was _nothing_ like the man standing before him. _Stoic_, yes, but evil and mean, no.

"Really? Oh yay! Dad! Did you hear that?" Riku smiled as he was now being led off by Leon's servants to get washed up.

"I did, Riku! I did!"

"I'm gonna visit you everyday! I promise!" He said, as he wiped away the remainder of his tears.

"Alright, I'll hold you to that! I love you, Riku!" He shouted as his son turned the corner up the stairs, and out of his sight. But he managed to hear an "I love you too, Dad!" soon after his disappearance behind the corner.

Leon was still standing in front of the stairs, "You seem like a good man, Kadaj."

"Thank you, sir."

After a couple minutes of silence Leon noticed that Kadaj still had a sad smile on his face, looking up at where he had last seen Riku.

"I can…" Leon's throat tightened at the words that were about to come out of his mouth. "I can only hope…that I will be as good of a father as you are some day." His heart ached. Women from all over the country, even some from across the sea had come to win the brunette's heart and marry him. But all they wanted was his title that came with him. He didn't want an heir if it was with any of them. This latest match, Rinoa Heartily of Galbadia was persistent. Her father, Fury Caraway offered a handsome amount of money for him to wed her, and he hasn't stopped. His numbers just keep getting larger every time Leon refuses.

"You will be sir. I can see it already, with how you treated my son."

Leon 'hmphed' and smirked at the silver-haired man before giving him a curt nod. "I wish you all the best, and may next years crops be plentiful."

"Thank you, sir."

* * *

"Daddy?" Sora whispered as he slowly swam into his father's room.

"Hmmm…What? Sora?"

"I um…I need air now." Sora blushed embarrassed for waking up his father so late.

Cloud smiled at him and pulled off his blanket, not minding at all that it was left in a pile on the floor. "Alright, come on." Cloud ruffled Sora's hair and grabbed his hand as they left their home and made their way to the surface.

Sora enjoyed these late night swims with his dad. Sometimes he would lie and say that he needed air when he really didn't. Because he was _all_ mammal, human on his top half and dolphin on the bottom, he couldn't breathe underwater like the rest of the mermaids could.

As they made their way up to the surface both Cloud and Sora sped up their paces a little, each one seeing who could break through the surface the fastest. Cloud slowed down his pace and let Sora win, but just by a smidge. On their way up Cloud had already checked the surface to make sure that no boats where present, so he let Sora win with ease. When Sora wiped at his eyes he took in a big breath and let it out again, taking in the midnight sky. Cloud was right next to him, tucking a stray piece of hair behind his ear. The action made Sora turn to him and smile before looking out longingly toward the ocean that lay to the right of him. He knew that was the direction that his Papa lived. Cloud had told him on countless occasions. Cloud noticed his longing look in the opposite direction and let out a sad smile, "Come on, Sora. Are you done?"

"Hm?" Sora turned around again to his Daddy and matched his sad smile. He took in another big breath and nodded, diving down in the water with Cloud soon following.

When they got back inside the house, Sora swam into Cloud's room and snuggled himself under the blankets while Cloud chuckled, "Sora. What are you doing?"

"I…I want a story."

Cloud delicately swam over and lifted up the other side of the blanket so he could squeeze in beside his son. "And what story do you want tonight?" Cloud whispered while he moved his arm so Sora could lay his head on his chest. "I want one…about Papa."

Cloud let out a heavy sigh. He already knew his son's answer before he even said anything. "And what would you like to hear about your Papa?"

"About…how he looks. I know you've told me before, but…I like hearing how he looks so much like me, especially since I've never seen him." The last part of his sentence was said with remorse, and Cloud could do nothing more than to hold him closer and kiss the top of his head. "Well, your Papa is very handsome, which is probably where you get your good looks from." Cloud paused as he heard Sora giggle. That lifted Cloud's spirits, to hear his son laugh again.

"Heehee, what else?" Sora snuggled the blanket closer to him.

"Well, he has beautiful chocolate hair, much like yours. But his was cropped short, just past the nape of his neck in the back, and in the front, he had beautiful full locks of hair that outlined the sides of his face." Cloud stopped a moment and ran his fingers through Sora's hair, "And his skin is about your color too." His voice was at a whisper now, "And he had the most gorgeous stormy grey eyes, much like his name."

"Squall…" Sora's voice was cracked and muffled, meaning that he was on the verge of sleep. "Yes, Sora. Squall." He finished the rest of the story in his head, reminiscing about that scar that went across his love's face, making him even more unique. Cloud didn't even care about the scar. It was a part of who Squall was, and he loved everything about him.

Right when Cloud thought Sora was asleep he heard him muffle "G'night, Papa." before snuggling even deeper into Cloud's side. The blonde merman couldn't do much more than smile and look up to the waters above before settling into his bed for sleep, "Goodnight, Squall."

* * *

Yay! Official chapter done! And also, SoRiku fans, don't be upset. things just have to get rolling first before the pairing. ;) SOON though. I promise you. not gonna say when though. but SOON...okay fine, like next chapter! But I also have to give some props to my Cleon (OTP alert!) haha. And also, when it's focused on Sora and Riku more, I will have little breaks describing how Cloud and Leon met and how their relationship developed. Because this _is _a Sora and Riku story as much as it is Cloud and Leon. I really hoped you enjoyed it! And also, sorry for my lack in writing style in this...I was watching TV and listening to the music at the same time while writing. crappy excuse, I know. -.- and I won't be able to update till this Friday or Saturday and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting that long! ;) So I really hope that you enjoyed it! Please R & R! Reviews make me update faster! :D


	3. Neap Tides: Chapter 2

Hey guys! I'm back! I know that I would say that I would update like, a month and a half ago, but I was just swamped with work and homework and just everything else. Excuses, excuses, I know. ANYway. I updated now! :D So, yay! And also, those of you that are fans of **Kuroko no Basuke**, I wrote a fanfiction for that too! My very first fanfiction outside of KH! :D That's a big step for me. So If you are a fan of Kuroko no Basuke, please go read it and tell me how I did! Thankies! ^^

And also, I read up that the Squall are the wind storms that happen during hurricanes/tropical storms and such, so that is why I put the reference to a squall in here.

And Riku will have long hair like he does in KH2. Because, I loved his hair long…*spoiler alert* I can't believe they cut it! So I'm keeping it long. xD

**Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy or Disney or the characters! T-T hence to why it is called a FANfiction. :) **

**Enjoy! :D**

* * *

Nine years later…

Silver hair was splayed out on one of the feathered pillows that accompanied the servant quarters. The body that accompanied it shifted on the bed, shielding his eyes as rays of sunshine beamed into the room.

"Good morning, Riku." One of the other servants greeted as they were getting dressed for the day.

After a yawn and some popping of his muscles Riku replied back with the same tired greeting. He shifted out of his woolen blanket and lifted his shirt over his head, getting ready to change into his day clothes. After slipping on his pants and shirt he buttoned up the navy blue vest that went over his billowing cream colored garment underneath. Buckling up his boots and brushing the tangles out of his long hair, as well as performing other morning routines he was ready to face the day ahead of him. He had already started doing a mental checklist of things that he would most likely have to do, such as make his master's bed and sift through all of the letters that were coming from more suitors. And most likely his master would have at least ten letters from that Caraway fellow who would _still _stop at nothing to have Master Leon marry his daughter.

Riku sighed. He didn't understand why Leon wouldn't just get the whole ordeal over with and marry her already. Leon was offered more substantial amounts of money for their union every time they received the letters. Riku shook his head and smirked. His master was so stubborn, for this ordeal had been going on ever since he started to live here. But even though he had a somewhat boring day ahead of him he couldn't help but look forward to the time that he would spend with his father in the afternoon.

"Oi! Riku!" One of his comrades motioned for him to come closer and look out the window.

"What is it?" Riku inquired, looking out to the sea. It looked like it always did in the morning, the yellow reflection of the sun dancing across the waves while seagulls sang their songs overhead. Even though it was a daily occurrence it never ceased to amaze Riku just how beautiful the sea really was.

"Can you smell it?" The older servant asked him, as he continued to scrutinize the waves.

Riku looked off to the side in confusion before looking back to the man in front of him, "Smell what?"

The other man took in a deep breath and let it out, "The storm."

'_A storm?' _That made Riku look back out to the ocean again. It was as clear and beautiful as ever. "Hmf, right. A storm." Riku rolled his eyes and made to leave his quarters when he heard the raspy voice of the man behind him again.

"Don't let the sky deceive ya, boy. There's a storm comin', and a mighty big one at that." His eyes kept squinting out over the calm waters underneath.

Riku slightly shook his head as he went on his way. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for it then."

* * *

Sora woke up early in the morning, stretching backwards to where he almost made a complete circle, his hands nearly touching the tip of his tail. He rubbed his eyes and swam throughout his house, checking in on his dad first. Turning the corner he saw blonde hair flowing to and fro as his father's body moved to turn over in bed. Sora grinned and silently made his way up to the surface for some air.

He loved to swim up to the surface in the mornings. It was always so beautiful and serene, and it was just a nice place to think sometimes. Breaking through the sun kissed surface of the water, Sora shook out his hair and gazed up at the sky, watching a couple birds here and there fly above him. He smiled as he watched them, and kept his eyes on them as they made their way towards the shore.

A soft sigh escaped his lips then. _'Shore…land…' _Sora has always wanted to see it, but his father wouldn't let him, and for a good reason too. He didn't want the Atlantica patrol to find him or his father. But just _once_, he wished that he would see it, touch it. The closest that he has ever got to doing that was hearing his dad's tales about how it looked. He felt an unwelcome clench in his chest and decided that it was time to go back underwater and start the day. He had a huge exam at school that he couldn't possibly afford to miss.

On his way back down into his house he smelt breakfast already cooking. When Sora came back inside and into the kitchen area Cloud turned to him and gave him a soft smile. "How was it today?"

Sora slumped and crossed his arms on the table, "Beautiful, as always. I saw some birds go towards shore too! I wonder if they are going to the same place that…Papa is…"

Cloud turned back around and shrugged his shoulders. "They could be. Or they could be headed to a different place entirely." He brought over their food and placed a plate in front of Sora for him to start eating.

"Thanks, Dad." He gave a big toothy grin as Cloud responded with a slight smirk before starting on his own breakfast.

When they were finished eating Sora grabbed his netted messenger bag, making sure that all of his essential books and materials were in there before giving his dad a hug and making his way out the door.

Cloud touched his son's shoulder lightly before he made it completely out of the house. "Sora, be careful today and come straight home. There is supposed to be a huge storm later on this evening."

Sora lifted up an eyebrow in suspicion. But it had looked so nice up above. Then again, if he paid enough attention he could feel the slightest bit of a difference in the current. He nodded to his dad, giving him another hug before swimming off to school.

* * *

Just as Riku had suspected, more letters came from Fury Caraway, insisting that Leon take his daughter's hand in marriage. He sighed and set the papers across from him while rubbing his eyes; they were starting to hurt from reading all of the letters. Marriage proposals here, conflict that needed settling there. It was all so tiresome that he didn't know how Leon survived before he came along. After some minutes of quiet rest he stood up, gathering the letters in one hand while straightening out his vest with the other. He walked up the stairs to his master's chambers before letting out a slight cough.

"Master Leon." Riku knocked on his master's door, waiting a few seconds before a faint "Come in" was heard. Riku slowly pushed open the door to find his master at his table, writing down on some papers, probably some more legal matters. He just finished his signature before he put the quill back in the bottle of ink, ready for it to be used again as soon as his servant left.

"What is it Riku?"

The young seventeen year old held out the letters while a soft smile came across his face, "I finished all of what was assigned to me. I was wondering if-"

"Of course you can, Riku." Leon said, face stoic, but his voice betrayed his physical features.

Riku had a half smirk on his face, "Thank you, Master Leon." He strode over to his master, laying the letters in a neat pile before making his exit.

This situation had become routine ever since Riku had come to live with Leon as one of his servants in the mansion on Destiny Islands. Riku would go up to his room, barely ask to leave before Leon would interrupt him and tell him to head on his way to see his dad.

Riku made his way down the velvet carpeted steps, heading toward the kitchen to grab some bread for Kadaj. Even though the crops were doing exceptionally well these past few years Riku always worried that his father wouldn't have enough to eat.

He greeted the kitchen staff with smiles and curt nods as he went to the bread oven. He looked inside; the new batch was almost ready.

"Not yet, Riku." The bread baker, Maurice, laughed as he put a floured hand on the boy's shoulder, making Riku's silk navy blue vest become covered in white powder on his left side. He frowned; it almost got into his hair.

"You'll have to wait 'bout another five or so minutes."

Riku smiled up at the big man while he played with the creamy, slightly billowing sleeves that ended at his wrist until the bread was done. He watched the baker as he looked inside the oven every couple of minutes, waiting until he nodded in approval before taking his bread paddle and placing it underneath a couple of the baked goods, then bringing them out and dropping them in a basket.

Riku went to work once they were all out, trying to find two of the best loaves to bring to his father.

"Woah, laddie! Aren't ye gonna wait till they cool off some?" He stood with his hands on his hips, giving the silverette teen a strange look.

"Oh, I don't mind it, really. This way they will still be nice and hot when I give them to my father." Riku took his two chosen bread loaves and wrapped them up in some cloth before bidding the cooks a good day. "That lad." Maurice shook his head, a smile on his face before turning to go make some more bread.

* * *

"Hey! Sora, wait up!"

"Hm?" light brown hair turned around to see his friend, Demyx, swim up to him. "Hey Demyx! How was class?" Sora asked as his friend caught up to him. School just got out for the day, and Sora was headed home to help his father with dinner.

"Ugh, don't even talk to me about school. Especially since we had those soldiers come over today. What the hell were they doing away from Atlantica?" Demyx sighed dramatically, resting his head on Sora's tan shoulder. Sora gave a sympathetic look while at the same time rolling his eyes, "I'm not sure, but it was some scary stuff." _'Especially for me.'_ Sore furrowed his brow, but shook off his worry. He has been living undercover with his dad for sixteen years now. If the Atlantica soldiers wanted to find him, they would have by now. "So, anyway, what are you going to do this weekend?" Sora asked, trying to be cheerful again. The other male's hand came up under his chin as he looked out in deep thought, "I dunno actually. Probably make some music I guess." He tilted his head to the side, "Oh! And annoy Zexion of course!" He laughed as he patted Sora's shoulder. They both continued to chat and laugh until they had to part ways, "See you tomorrow Dem!" Sora shouted as he turned in the direction of his house.

"See ya!" Demyx yelled back.

Sora was uneasy going home, he could feel it in the water that the storm was getting closer, and he wanted to be safe at home when it finally hit. The rest of the way to his house was ten minutes of silence. It was one of his favorite parts of the day, going home. He got to say hi to his lobster friends and the occasional sting ray that would swim by. But he loved it whenever the porpoises would come along and swim with him. He related to them most, so they had a special connection, but it looked like none of his mammal friends would meet him on his way home today, for Sora could already see his house.

He leisurely swam up to the door before going inside, throwing his net with his books in it on the floor.

"Sora?" Cloud called as he swam in from the kitchen. "Hey, Dad!" Sora swam over and gave him a hug before going into the kitchen to see what his dad had already done. "So, any word from Zack yet?"

Cloud sighed and leaned against the rock that served as the arch for the doorway, "No. I've been really worried. I haven't heard a word from him or his family about where they are."

"Really?"

"Yeah." Cloud and Zack were supposed to meet up a couple days ago in the market again, but he never showed up, and afterwards Cloud went to his house, only to find that no one was there. "Was Olette at school today? Did you see her?"

"Actually no, I didn't" Sora furrowed his brows while swimming over to the living area. "And I even asked Pence and he said that he hasn't heard from her either. I'm getting kind of worried."

Cloud mindlessly scratched his forearm, trying to think of reasons as to why his best friend had suddenly gone M.I.A.

Just then Sora came in and swam up to his dad, "And also, today. Something weird happened."

Cloud raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And what was that?"

"Soldiers…from Atlantica. They were at my school today, patrolling and asking people questions."

Cloud's heartbeat sped up and it was suddenly hard to breathe.

"But I tried to keep as far away from them as I could! I promise! I don't think any of them saw me." Sora tried to reassure his dad who was currently having a breakdown.

"Are you sure?! No one saw?!" Cloud's voice was louder as he asked, slowly taking a peek out of one of his windows, almost afraid of what he might see.

"Positive!" Sora grinned; trying to make it sound like it was no big deal. "So let's just eat dinner okay? I'm starved!"

* * *

Riku was at a slight jog, his boots padding softly in the sand that surrounded the mansion. It was right next to the ocean, which Riku loved. The heat of Destiny Islands was canceled out by the cool breeze and salty air that came from the roaring sea. Riku stopped next to the waves, coming on shore just enough so the rising tides would barely kiss the toe of his boots. The water was so beautiful here. But even though it was beautiful, the hurricanes were not, and Riku could see the darkening sky just barely beginning to form. _'I guess the old bat was right…'_ He let out a sigh, and ran toward his father's house, about fifteen minutes away. He didn't want the bread to be cold by the time he reached him.

* * *

"Woah, Dad. Do you feel that?" Sora asked, as he was at the table doing his homework. There was a sudden major shift in currents, meaning the storm was arriving faster than they anticipated.

"Yeah, I did." Cloud swam up to him, then over to the door to see if he might feel the currents better. He should have never opened it. He felt like his heart almost stopped as he saw a swarm of Atlantica soldiers swimming rapidly toward their home. By their distance Cloud estimated that they might arrive within three minutes. Cloud slammed the door shut and grabbed Sora by the arm, swimming over to his room.

"Dad! Ow! What is it?" Sora yelled, yanking his arm out from his father's grasp.

"Are you sure no one saw you?! No soldiers?!"

"Yeah! Sure! I mean, well I don't know! But I'm pretty sure, why?" Sora asked, now confused, but suddenly his whole body went cold.

"Sora, I want you to listen to me." Cloud leaned down to his son's height. "You have to get out of here. Now!" His voice tried to remain calm, but as of right now, he was anything but calm.

"Dad, what the heck are you talking about?" Sora's eyes went wide, "I don't understand." He made to look out the window when they heard screams from the neighbors. They heard the faint shouting, "Orders from Atlantica!"

Sora was in a state of horror, _'But how?!' _

"Sora, now!" his dad pushed him out of the window in his son's room, "You have to leave!"

"Bu-but where?!" the boy was on the point of hyperventilating.

"You know where to go." Cloud's eyes narrowed somewhat and Sora gulped in understanding. _'Squall'._

"But, what about yo-" he was cut off by a shrill scream.

Both mermen turned toward the sound, then a familiar voice spoke up, "Cloud! Please!" _'Zack?!'_ "Please come out or they will keep hurting them!" It was so broken and filled with panic as another scream broke through. "Please!"

"Go!" Cloud commanded but Sora was frozen to the spot, shaking his head back and forth.

"Sora, you have to!" _'I can't watch you die! I love you so much!' _"And no matter what you hear, or how you feel, you have to keep going! As fast as you can!" Cloud quickly swam over to him, bringing his son to his chest before placing a hard kiss to his head.

Sora was stammering "I-I can't leave you! I can't!" He was starting to cry as his dad pushed him away. "Sora, I promise that I will be okay. But right now, you have to leave, and swim there as fast as you possibly can! Do you understand?!"

The young boy gulped,"Y-yes!" Sora clenched his eyes shut as he yelled his response, not even sparing his father a last glance as he swam off. He couldn't look at him. Just knowing his dad's fate…it made him want to throw up. But he had to live. He had to keep on going for both his and his father's sake. _'I have to!' _

* * *

Cloud watched him go, his chest tightening in such a manner that he thought he would cave in on himself. It was then that he heard the pounding of the door, and after a few more hits, the door shattered.

"Cloud Strife!" The soldiers barged in, and along with them came a battered and bruised Zack. His eyes were both swollen, the right one to the point of being completely shut. Olette was also there, along with Aerith, whip slashes marked their backs.

Cloud's voice caught in his throat as he looked at the soldiers with dead eyes, then turned back to his friends, "I am so sorry." He managed to whisper.

Olette was clinging to Aerith while Zack was being held up by the arms by two Atlantica soldiers. He saw a couple soldiers move to patrol the house and then call over to another one. In the far off distance, they saw him.

Cloud was frightened, more so than he had ever been in his life. He put his Sora in danger and that was the last thing he wanted. A fist came in contact with his head, and suddenly his life was spinning in a web of chaos. He caused all of this…he had no one else to blame but himself. Just knowing that he was the cause for all of his loved ones pain and suffering was enough to make him completely surrender.

As he found himself being beaten and wrapped in chains his only thoughts were those for Sora. He was praying continuously to Leviathan to keep his son safe. Nothing else seemed to matter as a bolt of metal clashed with his head, putting him in a world of complete darkness.

* * *

Sora swam as fast as his muscles would allow. He was already in need of air from so much exertion.

"Follow him!"

"We can't let him get away!"

'_What?!' _Sora's mind screamed as he continued to swim faster. _'How did they find me?!' _

He swam up to the surface for a huge gasp of air to replenish his lungs. He took notice of how dark and demonic the sky had looked compared to this morning, as well to how huge the waves had gotten. When he came back underwater it seemed as if the soldiers had gained on him. _'No!' _

Sora was releasing grunts and groans now. His muscles were aching from swimming against the harsh currents. He couldn't get caught! As he looked back down he noticed that even though the soldiers were gaining on him, they were having considerable trouble fighting against the hellish currents as well.

Sora thought that his arms were going to fall off any minute due to his fast swimming. He could tell that he was getting closer to the major part of the storm, but he had to keep going, or risk getting killed. Hell, he could get killed in this storm, but he would rather die in a hurricane than by the hands of the soldiers. That just fueled his motivation even more. He pushed his muscles harder and faster, with enough force to propel him at least five yards with each downward stroke of his tail.

He barely heard the yelling from his pursuers but when he looked back, he noticed that they were gone, not a trace of them to be found. But he still wasn't sure. There could be more soldiers up ahead, on patrol. But he had to keep going.

He had no idea how far or how long he had swam since he had left his dad to be condemned to death. He let out a harsh cry as he thought about it. Just this morning he had witnessed a beautiful sky and had a nice, calm breakfast with his father, and now, he was swimming for his life while who knows what was happening to Cloud.

One of the sporadic currents hit him hard, jutting him to the left, but he couldn't lose course. No matter how many currents hit him from different angles, he had to keep track of where he was going.

But at this point in time, when he went up to get air again, a monstrous wave crashed down on his body, sending him tumbling down into the water, just to be picked up by another wall of water, only to come crashing down again. He couldn't get any air. He scrambled his arms in the salty liquid, failing to bring him toward the surface. When he was thrashed upward by another onslaught of waves he barely got enough breath in him to keep him conscious. As he was tossed and turned underwater, he gave up. It was useless to fight against nature, especially when it was Leviathan's doing. _'Well, at least I'm not dying by the hands of those monsters' _that brought a small smile to his face, as well as the next one, _'I'm dying in the midst of a squall.' _

* * *

Riku peeked out at the morning sun from his father's house. He had stayed the night over there due to the horrible storm that had raged on the night before. Looking outside he saw rubble from old boats that had been splintered apart, and a number of Paopu trees that had been torn over due to the sheer force of the powerful hurricane.

He let out a defeated sigh and turned back inside to say goodbye to his father.

Kadaj was up and about, getting ready to go check on his crops after the storm, already in a panic.

"Hey, Dad, I have to leave now. Will you be okay with the crops?" Riku questioned, concern laced in his voice.

Kadaj just shook his head, "Oh, I'll be alright. What can ya do? You know?" He rubbed at his temples as he grabbed his hat and a hoe that he sometimes used as a makeshift walking stick. "Mother nature can sure be a bitch." He spat, but then turned to his son, gesturing for a hug, which Riku gladly accepted. After patting his father on the back and wishing him good luck, he made his way back to the mansion. He wasn't expecting any substantial damage to happen to it. It has lived through more hurricanes than Riku has been alive, and only twice has it had to have major work done to repair it.

The wet sand squished under Riku's feet as he once again walked along side the ocean, now as calm as the morning before the hurricane. He shook his head. Nature was sure unpredictable.

As he walked for another five minutes toward his destination he couldn't help but look to the other side of him, where all of the plant and wild life had been severely affected by the onslaught of powerful waves. For about a mile and a half, all of the trees and bushes were flattened. Paopu fruits were nearly disintegrated as he walked over to examine one of the trees that had been broken in half.

He sighed and turned to leave, but not before noticing an odd coloration amongst the flattened greenery. He slowly walked over to the tan object. It looked big, maybe a little smaller than his body. _'Is it some kind of animal?' _was the first thought that Riku questioned. He slowly made his way around the debris that had mad its new home on the shores of Destiny Islands. As he walked closer toward it, he noticed that it indeed was a human, and absent of clothing at that. Now he couldn't hold back the instinct to run over and see if the person was okay. Running up next to the injured being he moved some of the debris that had fallen on top of the body. He noticed after some more removal of wood and leaves that it was a boy, probably 16 or so, somewhere around that age range. He had slightly tanned skin and brown hair that stuck up in all directions.

"Hey!" Riku called to the naked boy as he gently shook his shoulder to see if the young man was alive. There was no response and Riku had almost assumed the worst until he put a hand on the boy's chest and felt a faint heartbeat, and the slight moving of the abdomen, meaning that he was breathing.

The silverette let out a grateful sigh and tried to maneuver the boy so he could pick him up and bring him back to the mansion to receive medical care. It was when he picked him up bridal style that he noticed a nasty gash on the boy's right arm. _'He definitely needs to see Merlin.' _Riku thought as he quickened his pace to the mansion. He had to get the boy help as soon as possible, and hopefully, he could find out what happened for the boy to be washed up like that. _'Maybe it was a shipwreck, and he tossed up on shore.' _That was the only plausible thought that could come to his mind. But right now as he saw the mansion in his view he could only hope that he wasn't too late in saving this boy's life.

* * *

Now, to get it off of everyone's chest (cause I was thinking this too, and almost wrote it in here before I remembered that people would laugh) *ahem* Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, what do we do we swim!" ...okay. Now it's out of my system. xD And also, I finished my freshman year of college yesterday! Thank God! (Oh, and also, Leviathan is a god that is used in the FF games. ^^) So this means that I will have at least three weeks to work on cosplays and my fanfiction before A-kon! :D who else is going? But then, right after A-kon, I'm starting summer school...I want to get out of college as fast as I can. haha.

Well if you would be so kind, I would love it if you guys would take the time to review and tell me what you think of this chapter! And FINALLY! SORA AND RIKU MEET! :D I told you all it would happen in this chapter. ;) And I think that it is just fabulous that Fanfiction now has the option of more than two characters! So, I changed that as well. Anywho.

Until next time! Which hopefully won't be too long. I'm going to try to update another one of my fanfictions as well. ^^


	4. Neap Tides: Chapter 3

Hi guys! I'm baaaack! And sorry for the delay! T0T but I just started summer classes and before that I was at A-kon (Demyx and Chibitalia ;)) But I finally found some time! Whoot! So, I really hope that you all enjoy this chapter!

**Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Final Fantasy, or Kingdom Hearts or its characters.**

* * *

Axel was trying not to fall asleep as he was working the night shift in the Atlantica prison. Being a guard was tough work, especially when you had to come home to a grumpy pregnant husband.

He rubbed his temples and tried to stifle his yawn when the entrance door burst open, slamming itself up against the wall. Soldiers were rushing inside, laughing and high-fiving one another about how they finally caught the culprit that has been eluding them for over a decade. The red head rolled his shoulders, hearing them pop as he swam over to them to see what all of the gossip was about.

"Awe man! Can you believe it! Did you see the look on his face when we finally caught him? Ha! It was priceless!" The soldier was obviously drunk, along with most of the others, cheering about their success.

A red eyebrow rose in interest at their conversation. Who the hell did they catch? He went over to one of the guards and tapped him on the shoulder. The soldier laughed and wiped away some saliva that had escaped his mouth during his repeated laughter, "Oh, hey Ax! What's up? Did you hear? We finally caught him-hic!" He ended with a fit of hiccups as the others started to laugh at him.

"Who is it that you guys caught exactly? Was he on the most wanted list or something? Cause' you guys are celebrating pretty hard." He chuckled as one of the soldiers burped out a bubble.

"Mmh-hic-mmh." One of the soldiers nodded. "This one has been on the most wanted list for foreveeerrrrr." He elaborated.

"Sweet." Axel smirked over at his comrades, "Just who is he?"

One of the sober soldiers took off his helmet and shook out his hair, "It was Cloud Strife. We finally found him in the isolated town of Aerwyna. And it was on a whim too. If it wasn't for that loudmouth friend of his, we never would have even bothered looking."

The soldier smirked, resting his head on the palm of his hand, "What's wrong Ax? You okay? You look really sick." He brought his brows together.

Axel tried to take in calm breaths and not show his panicked state. Cloud? They actually caught him? That was his brother in-law! He even helped him escape and would try to send the soldiers out on false leads as to where he may be. His mouth had suddenly gone extremely dry and it was difficult to swallow. Now that they found him…what would they do to him? Did they get his nephew? Was Sora okay? And how the hell was he going to tell Roxas about this?! His husband was already emotional enough as it is with him being five months pregnant!

He could barely stutter the words that came out of his mouth, "I-I'm fine, I mean it's just…are you sure that it's actually him? I mean, he's been eluding you guys for almost what, sixteen, seventeen years?" He ran his hand nervously though his red spikes.

"Yeah, that's what I mean. It's amazing that we found him." The soldier sighed and ran his hand across his face.

Green eyes narrowed over at all of the laughing soldiers before slowly turning back to the sober one. "Well, where is his now? This _is _the maximum security prison after all. We need to keep criminals like him locked up, asap."

The soldier nodded his head, agreeing with him before replying, "The boys are still having fun with him. They are drunk as drunk can get. Might as well let them enjoy themselves."

At this, Axel was infuriated, but did his best not to show it, "Really? I kind of want to take part in this. Where exactly are they?"

The other smiled and pointed out the door, "They are at the back entrance. Feel free to join. Scum like him deserve it."

Axel put on a fake smile and nodded as he calmly left the room, "Right."

He swam slowly until he rounded the corner, and then made a mad dash for the back entrance of the prison. Flinging open the door he was dumbstruck at what he saw. Two guards were holding up an unconscious Cloud, his eyes were so bruised that they were swollen shut and the soldiers kept on punching and kicking him, cheering even louder whenever they heard a bone break.

Axel had to bite his tongue from screaming out his brother in-law's name; instead, he slowly swam over to the rowdy group of inebriated soldiers. "Hey guys, mind if I take him off of your hands?" He greeted the others as they smiled and motioned for him to come forward, obviously too tipsy to even register what he had said.

"Sure ,Axel! We were almost done with him anyway!"

The two soldiers holding onto the blonde merman dropped him to the ground carelessly as they laughed their way inside, soon followed by the others.

Axel took a cautious look around before immediately going to Cloud's side.

"Cloud! Cloud!" Axel shook him slightly before hearing a pained moan escape the blonde male. It almost sounded as if he was crying.

Axel sighed before gently picking him up bridal style, with Cloud's head laying on his chest and his arm underneath the blonde's tale. _'I'm going to take care of you while you are here…' _Axel clenched his eyes shut as he looked at the clocks when he passed through the hallways. _'It's almost time to go home too…'_

* * *

Roxas was on the couch in the living room, trying not to fall asleep before his husband came home. He felt a slight movement in his belly which made his sleepy face smile before being alerted about the opening of the front door.

"Hey Roxy. I'm home." Axel smiled sadly as he closed the door before swimming over to the couch to greet his husband and unborn child.

Roxas lifted up his lazy head to greet him in a kiss, but automatically knew that something was wrong when he didn't get one. Opening up his pure blue eyes he noticed that Axel had taken to sit on the opposite side of the couch, rubbing his temples.

Blonde brows furrowed, "Axel…what's wrong?" He asked cautiously as he sat up and moved toward his partner.

"Hmm?" he moved his hand and looked toward his younger husband.

Roxas took note of how his eyes looked tired and his skin was paler than usual. "What happened at work today?" he moved his tale to sit underneath him as he folded his arms on the back of the sofa. He may be a hard ass of a person sometimes, but when it came to the man he loved not feeling well, he was actually quite caring.

Axel tried not to look over as he thought about what happened right before he left for home. It wasn't going to be easy. He shook his head, his red hair moving back and forth in the water, "Roxas…I can't…" his brows furrowed as he thought about how he was going to tell his husband about what happened to his brother. "It's just that…" He shook his head and let out another sigh.

Roxas' eyes looked all up and down Axel. "It's just what?" he asked softly.

Axel leaned his head back and closed his eyes, his voice becoming only a whisper, "Damn Roxas…I just don't know how to tell you." It was suddenly becoming harder for him to breathe as he saw Roxas tense up. "I didn't cheat on you if that's what you were thinking." He rolled his eyes as he saw the blonde's shoulders relax somewhat.

"Then um…" the blonde bit his lip as he started playing with the ends of one of the pillows that was on the couch, "what is it?"

Green eyes closed and reopened again as he turned his head to his younger lover, slowly relaying the events of what happened earlier that day to him.

Roxas thought his heart had stopped. "I have to tell Ventus!"

* * *

The swim over to his twin's house was a short one. He only lived two neighborhoods over. "Ventus!" Roxas panicked as he knocked on the door to his brother's house. Axel was behind him, looking around to make sure that no off duty guards were around.

Both Roxas and Ventus moved to Atlantica since their husbands had gotten jobs in the capitol, and no one suspected anything about them being related to the fugitive Cloud Strife since they had both changed their last names to match those of their partners'.

After four knocks on the front door, an exact copy of Roxas opened it up. He only had a slight bulge in his belly since he was two months pregnant. "What is it Rox-"

"They have Cloud! They found him, Ven!" Roxas darted into the house, barely taking notice of Terra, who was in the kitchen doing dishes.

Ventus' eyebrows got closer together, "What do you mean, Roxas? They haven't found Cloud. He's still in hiding in Aerwyna…" Part of the younger twin was frantic, hoping that his brother was hysterical or something along those lines.

"It's true." Axel spoke up from behind Terra, closing the door. "The soldiers found Cloud yesterday, and brought him to the prison today."

Ventus had officially gone into shock. That can't be! "Ho-how?! What about Sora? Are they okay?!" he was frantic, but trying to calm down because he didn't want to unintentionally hurt his child growing inside of him.

Axel sighed, "The soldiers were just passing by the village when they heard someone start talking about Cloud. That someone was Zack, and they held him and his family as ransom to get Cloud to come out. And I don't know about Sora. The soldiers didn't say anything about him. And to answer your last question, Cloud has been physically beaten, but I can't tell you about Sora's condition since no one knows where he is." His emerald eyes took upon the slim figure in front of him. Ventus was trying not to shake as Terra made his way over to comfort the smaller merman.

"Cl-Cloud…" His blue eyes brimmed with tears, immediately disappearing into their surroundings once they had formed. "What do-what do we do?!" Ventus yelled at anyone that was listening. He didn't know how he could help him!

Roxas was still equally as shaken but managed to get some words out. "Axel has placed him in the cells where he is positioned. He said that he will do his best to take care of him as long as no one finds out."

Identical blue eyes met one another, "Right." He gulped as he wrapped his shaky hands around his midsection. Minutes passed by as everyone had taken in the news as to what had just happened. Ventus looked up at Roxas. He had never seen his brother so distraught, and then he looked over at Axel. This man would protect Cloud while he was incarcerated, even if it only provided his eldest brother a little bit of protection; it was more than he could do. He felt guilty just sitting here. He tried not to think about Cloud, but that was impossible. All of the pain that the soldiers put him through was probably nothing compared to not knowing what happened to his son. He couldn't even imagine not knowing what happened to his child. He clenched his fists and grit his teeth. If Axel was going to take care of Cloud, then he had to find out if Sora was okay. It was the least he could do to try to ease his brother's mind.

"Roxas." He spoke up, making everyone in the room turn to look at him. "It's our job to find out if Sora is okay."

Roxas let out a shaky breath but nonetheless nodded his head with determination, "Right."

* * *

The sweet smell of yeast roamed throughout the mansion from the daily baking of bread. Sora inhaled in it his sleep, smacking his chops at the beautiful smell of something that he couldn't describe. His bed was soft and lavish, he almost felt like he was floating. Cloud must have bought him some new sheets when he was out in the marketplace too, because they smelled wonderful. The only thing that he couldn't quite place was the insane pain in his arm and the headache that accompanied it. It was only when the pain fully registered in his brain that he noticed the light red color behind his eyelids.

_'__Morning already?' _he stifled a yawn and tried to stretch, only then screaming out in pain as he moved his arm. His eyes shot open and he went into panic mode when he didn't recognize where he was. _'Where am I?!' _he thought. _'And why does my arm hurt?!' _His azure eyes slowly looked down to notice that there was thread inside of his arm, holding up torn flesh, and it was in a loose sling. "What?" he whispered. "I thought…that I was dead." He gasped in sudden realization that he was not in the hurricane anymore suddenly somewhere where no merfolk should ever be! He wasn't in water, which he wondered why he didn't notice that in the first place, and when he moved around in the covers, something didn't feel quite right. He saw two long bulges in the covers in place of where his tale should have been. He moved his bottom half again and squeaked, immediately covering his mouth with his uninjured hand.

Once he thought that he had calmed down enough he hesitantly lifted the covers, afraid of what he might see. He squinted his eyes in the darkness under the blankets, his eyes going wide and his throat closing up as he saw two legs, as clear as day, in place of his tale. A scream was caught in place as he yanked the cover back down to cover up his new body parts, only to reveal a young man with silver hair and aquamarine eyes staring back at him, carrying some food on a tray, "Good. You're awake." He smiled.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Sora screeched from the horror of being in the presence of a human. It wasn't but a couple seconds later when he looked at him again, that he passed out.

* * *

Sora smacked his lips together again as he felt his stomach growl with hunger. Initially that's what woke him up. He hesitantly opened his eyes, squinting them from the sun that was bombarding the room. _'So it wasn't just a nightmare then, was it?' _Sora's breathing picked up speed but he tried to remain calm and take in his situation. He was currently on land…in a nice warm bed, unlike anything he has ever laid in, and most importantly, he had a set of legs. He tried to move off the bed to get a better look at them before he felt his arm throb in pain again. "Ow!" he hissed as he looked down at his bandaged arm, also taking in the fact that he was wearing clothes. Looking back around the room again he was beyond confused, and scared. _'Well they would have killed me by now if they knew I was from the ocean...' _Sora pondered, while he was still terribly confused as to why he suddenly had a pair of legs instead of his tale!

'_Knock knock'_

A light rap at the door alerted him of someone's presence. Sora immediately took his good hand and covered himself up to the bottom of his chin with the blankets that were keeping him warm on the bed. As the individual came in, he recognized it as the boy that he had seen before, but he still didn't drop his guard one bit.

The young man came and sat next to the bed, taking note of the untouched food that was on the nightstand next to him.

Sora followed his gaze, biting his lip. Even though he has never eaten any of it before, it sure looked good. But now it was probably cold. His stomach growled again, making the silver haired male turn to look at him, smirk evident on his face.

"Don't worry. I'll go get you a hot meal later. It's almost supper time anyway."

Deep blue eyes went wide as he was frozen on the spot, just looking around like a scared kitten. Was he supposed to respond? What do you say to someone that you don't know after you thought you were going to die?

The other boy just sat in the chair, an irritated look on his face. He was about to get up and leave before he heard the voice of the injured boy ask him a question.

"Hm? Sorry I couldn't hear that. Bring the covers down from your mouth." He was back to smirking. This boy sure was odd.

Slightly tan arms slowly brought the blankets down to his chest, making him feel more vulnerable than he had ever felt in his life.

"Uh-um…I um…" Sora gulped before continuing, trying to control the shaking in his voice. "I just wanted to um…to know…how I got here." He calmed down his breathing and awaited his much anticipated answer.

The other went back to sit down next to him. "Well that's a reasonable question, but first, let me introduce myself. My name is Riku, and I was the one that found you after the storm and brought you back here."

Brunette eyebrows were knit together, trying to figure it all out, nodding so the other would continue.

"You were bruised pretty badly, as you can see." Riku motioned toward Sora's stitched up arm. "But we got Merlin, the local doctor, or wizard, as he likes to call himself, to fix up your arm. And then the others and I helped to put you in some fresh clothes. You were stark naked when I found you on the beach." He smirked again as he noticed the other's face flush a brilliant shade of red.

"Uhm…so you found me….like this?" Sora asked, wanting to make sure that he didn't see his tale, wherever it had run off to.

"Yeah. You really gave me a scare. I thought that you were dead for a moment when I first found you."

Sora bit his bottom lip and nodded.

Riku leaned forward in his chair. "I live here with some other servants and our master. He was the one that let you have this room while you healed up. I would suggest that you thank him whenever you see him."

"Huh?" Sora shook his head out of his momentary daze, trying to actually believe that this was still happening to him, "Oh yes! Of course." He whispered the last part.

This time Riku smiled at him, "So! Now that you know about me, how about you tell me about yourself? What's your name?"

"Sora. Sora Str-uhm…Sora." He nodded affirmatively. He was always so used to not saying his last name that it almost caught him off guard when he almost muttered it. He had to be cautious about his family name back home, lest the soldiers come looking for him.

"Sora, huh? Where are you from? Do you have any family that we can try contacting? To let them know that you are safe? What were you doing out there in the storm anyway?"

"Uhm…yeah…" Sora held his head in his good hand, trying to think of a lie that could get him out of this, until the middle part of Riku's questioning registered. _'Dad!'_

"My dad! I have to let him know I'm okay!" Sora frantically moved to get out of the bed. Riku stepped aside, allowing for Sora to get up, but he wasn't expecting the younger male to fall completely face down onto the floor. He automatically went to help him, "Hey, are you alright? You've been out for a couple days, just try to steady yourself. Don't move too fast." He soothed as he helped Sora up from the floor, noticing the immediate collapse of Sora's knees again.

'_You don't have to worry about me not moving too fast! I can't even function with these things!' _Sora screamed to himself.

"Here, come on." Riku bent down and picked up Sora, hooking his arm under his legs as he laid him back on the bed. "Did you damage your legs too?" he inquired.

"Oh, uhm, no. They're fine, it's just…" Sora bit his lip, _'Think Sora! Think! Think of a good lie as to why you can't walk!' _"I um just…can't really remember how to walk is all. I guess…that whenever I got knocked out it just uhm…kind of…you know…" Sora blushed furiously at his pathetic excuse for a lie.

Riku chuckled and shook his head, turning to smile at Sora. "Your legs are probably just sore from being thrown around like that. I'll help you get back on your feet though, don't worry. Master Leon has assigned me the duty of taking care of you, since I _was_ the one that found you after all."

"Oh." Sora turned pink and looked down, his fingers fiddling with the fabric of the blankets. "Thank you."

Riku smiled at him, before getting up out of the chair, but a sharp rapping at the door grabbed both of their attention.

Riku's shoulders went back slightly as he saw who it was that entered, "Good evening Master Leon."

Sora stared at the other man, taking in his intimidating features. He had a slight scowl on his face, dark brown hair that had a few stray strands falling in front of his eyes, and a scar that went across his face diagonally. Sora shivered.

"Good evening Riku. It seems the little storm survivor finally woke up." He walked a couple more steps into the room, stopping at the side of the bed beside Riku. "My name is Leon. It's nice to see that you are feeling better…"

"Sora." The younger brunette replied hastily.

"Sora." The master of the house repeated. "After I sent Riku back to check on you he didn't return with the verdict of your well being. So I came up here myself." He gave a pointed look at Riku, who in turn just shrugged slightly.

"My apologies, Sir. I was just talking to him, trying to get some information about where he was from, and if any family members were looking for him."

Leon stayed silent as he exchanged glances between the two teens. "Well?"

"I have a dad, Sir. And uhm…we just got separated during the storm. That's all." Sora said, trying to hold back the flood of emotions that had come up. He didn't know what had happened to his dad, or if he was even still alive. That thought made him sick, and he obviously looked paler, due to the other two men's expressions.

"Hey, Sora. What's wrong?" Riku sat back next to him, noticing how ill the other looked.

Leon also looked concerned, but made no intention of moving toward the other. He almost couldn't bear to look at him. Those eyes brought back so many memories that he couldn't suppress anymore, and reminded him of the other reason why he came up to see Riku.

"Riku." Leon spoke, effectively grabbing the seventeen year old's attention.

"Hm? Yes?" The boy answered, rubbing the younger's back.

"I'm going to accept them." He deadpanned, looking at the wall on the other side of the room. There was no emotion on his face or in his voice.

Riku's eyebrows drew together in shock, "What? Why now?"

"Rinoa's father hasn't let up even once in his requests for me to marry his daughter. And I was thinking that, it would just be better to end all of this. Even if I don't have an heir, Laguna will no doubt talk to Ellone about being in charge once his, and my time is done. But right now, Destiny Islands needs the money, especially after that last hurricane. It would be best for everyone if I were to just accept the proposals."

"But why now?" Riku asked, confused. "Why didn't you do it sooner?"

Leon stayed silent for several moments, debating the best way to answer the question before a sad smile came across his face, "Cause I'm a fool. That's why." _'I'm just an idiot with wishful thinking and unrealistic ideals. Clinging to the past like it's a comfort.' _He shook his head and sighed before bidding them a good day, announcing that supper was now ready.

"Right…" Riku sighed. He couldn't ever imagine how that must feel, marrying someone just for their title. Kadaj had always raised him on stories of true love and happy endings, not getting him prepared for the real world. He then turned his attention back to the sick boy in his arms, "Hey, Sora. I'm going to go down and get your supper. I'll also bring a bucket, just incase you need to throw up or something."

Sora swallowed hard, wiping off his clammy hands on his shirt, trying not to move the one in the sling. "Thank you, Riku." He let out a soft smile as the older boy returned it, going downstairs and taking the cold food that was on the nightstand with him.

Sora leaned back on the soft pillows, resting his head while turning to look outside the open windows that led to a perfect view of the sea. _'Thank you Leviathan, for saving my life.' _He squirmed again in the covers, jumping once his legs overlapped one another. _'That feels SO weird…'_ He thought as he closed his eyes, hoping more than anything that the sea god that he was praying to had saved his father's life as well.

He let out a soft, tired sigh before relaxing more into the bed, trying to get some rest in before supper. _'Now I just have to find my other dad…Squall.' _He pulled his lips to the side in frustration. He didn't want to think about that journey yet. Right now, he just needed to get better. But before he could even register the soft singing of the seagulls outside, lulling him to sleep, there was another knock on his door. He moved his head just slightly to see that it was Riku again; back with two bowls of soup, accompanied by some loaves of bread. There were also some items on the tray that he had never seen before. Riku sat the tray down on the nightstand and helped Sora get into a comfortable sitting position before handing him his own bowl and bread. He then proceeded to cut up the bread into slices before lying them back down on Sora's plate before grabbing his own dinner for the evening.

"Bon appetite." Riku said, just before grabbing his spoon and eating his soup.

Sora copied this motion and his eyes lit up at the delicious taste that was in his mouth. Soon he abandoned the spoon for just the bowl itself, drinking away its contents as some of the juice spilled out the sides of his mouth.

Riku was staring at him, awestruck at the sight that the brunette had just performed.

"Were you hungry?" He laughed, grabbing a napkin and wiping away the stray liquid from Sora's chin.

The brunette smiled a huge grin while he grabbed a slice of the bread, "Starved!"

* * *

Whooooot! They finally had a conversation guuuyyysss! :DDDDDDD *is happy* ^^ Well as always, I would really appreciate reviews for this story! like...a lot...especially now that I am taking summer classes. Reviews make me sooooooo much happier! :)


	5. Neap Tides: Chapter 4

Hey guys, I'm back! Sorry for the late update! Dx but I was taking summer classes and now I am moving back into the dorms to start off the new school year! I will try my best to make the next update quicker, but no promises. ;-;

anywho, I really hope that you all enjoy this chapter! :) I'm trying to focus more on Sora and Riku's relationship now and not make it move too fast. But of course the mermaids are still in this story! and will always be! xD

**Disclaimer: I do not and will never own Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy or its characters. This is purely fanmade and for fun.**

Enjoy! and I apologize for this being the shortest actual chapter, but I couldn't think of anything else that needed to be said. ;-;

* * *

After Riku left the room Sora relaxed back in the bed; his stomach nice and full from the hearty meal that he had just eaten. His mouth was still watering slightly from the remaining taste of soup and bread on his tongue. _'That was probably the best thing that I have ever eaten!' _A smile graced his lips as he snuggled up into the covers some more. He told Riku, before he left with their empty cups and plates, to open the glass doors that led to the balcony so he could smell the ocean.

Listening to the waves from outside he drifted off to sleep, hoping that he would be met with joyful dreams whenever he closed his eyes.

* * *

Riku was the first of the servants to awaken that morning. After stretching, changing his clothes, as well as performing the other morning rituals, he headed off to see how Sora was doing. He went to his father the days that Sora had still been unconscious, but Kadaj said that he would be too busy cleaning up after the hurricane that he wouldn't even have time to spend with Riku for the next week or so.

He crinkled his nose as he walked by the kitchen, smelling the delicate aroma's of the morning's breakfast being prepared. It would no doubt be exceptionally delicious. Climbing the stairs two at a time he made it to the top, taking an abrupt left toward the guest room that Sora was staying in for the time being.

He padded lightly on the carpeted floor until he came up to the door, letting out a few soft knocks before slowly opening it. The door only creaked slightly as he opened it up wide enough to let him through. Making his way inside he closed the door lightly, making sure the wind from the open windows didn't slam it shut.

The body in the covers wasn't moving, so Riku padded over softly on the carpet as to not wake up the sleeping boy. Almost immediately when he walked over to Sora he noticed that something was wrong. Sora's forehead was covered in sweat, and he was mumbling something that Riku couldn't quite decipher. He could only assume that the boy was having a nightmare. He quickly walked over to the bathroom that was inside of the guestroom and wet a washcloth with cool water. Once he got back to Sora he lifted up the light brown bangs on his forehead and put the washcloth in place. Sora's brows furrowed and the mumbling got louder. Riku bent down to listen to the harsh whispers that were coming from Sora's mouth.

"Da-ddy…" Sora's eyebrow twitched and his breathing became heavy. Riku didn't know what to do. _'He needs his rest…but he's having a nightmare about his dad.' _

A whimper escaped Sora's lips, bringing Riku back to his attention. The pained expression on his face was almost too much to bear for the silverette. He sighed as he placed a hand on the teenager's shoulder, shaking him slightly.

"Sora, wake up. Come on." He tried to make his voice sound smooth so as to not scare the boy when he awoke.

Another whine came from Sora and this time Riku pushed a little harder, "Sora."

Blue eyes shot open at the sound of his name being called out to him, darting from right to left before settling on the older boy beside him. Recognizing Riku's face made him relax, glad that he was now out of his nightmare.

"Are you alright?" Riku's voice was serious as he kept a hand on Sora's shoulder.

Sora let out a soft sigh as he looked past Riku, watching the birds fly over the ocean. "I'm fine. It was just a nightmare." He squinted his eyes as he tried to sit up, Riku helping him along in the process. Once he sat up he jolted when something wet fell in his lap, his uninjured hand shooting up to the sudden rush of coolness on his forehead where the washcloth was.

"You were sweating, so I put that on your forehead to cool you down." Riku explained as he grabbed the washcloth out of Sora's lap.

The brunette turned his head toward him and let out a grateful sigh, "Thank you, Riku."

He was met back with a smile of his own, "Of course."

Sora's eyes turned somber once again as he clenched and unclenched his fists in the blankets.

Riku pursed his lips as he saw Sora's face, probably reminiscing about the nightmare that he just had, "Hey," he touched Sora's shoulder, making him come out of his trance. He wanted to ask if Sora wanted to talk about it, to see if that would possibly ease the younger teen's pain. He decided against it. He himself never liked to be reminded of painful things, whether they be nightmares or real events. "Breakfast is almost ready. I just thought that I would let you know."

Sora's face lightened up slightly as a small smile replaced his once stoic expression. "Thanks."

For a moment, it was just Sora staring at Riku, aquamarine eyes meeting deep sea blue. Once the silence became more than awkward Riku's cheeks started to heat up and he coughed, turned his head toward the side and brought a fist up to his mouth to stifle his cough. This made Sora bite his bottom lip while trying not to smile and turn his head toward the damp rag in his lap.

"Um…so, _any_way!" Riku chuckled as he turned back toward the brunette in the bed, who also had flushed cheeks from trying to not laugh at the awkward silence. Riku tried to turn the conversation back onto a more serious topic. "So, uhm…did you want to try to walk today? Your muscles may still be sore, but we have to get you up and out of this bed sometime. Maybe you can even eat breakfast with us downstairs." Riku beamed at him.

Sora did his best to hide his nervousness about walking, and he didn't even want to think about walking down the stairs yet.

When Riku noticed that Sora was just looking at him like a frightened deer, he pulled back the covers so Sora could swing his legs over the edge of the bed.

Sora was panicking in his mind right now, but he had to perform and make it not look suspicious! He gulped silently as he swung his legs over, getting goose bumps at the unfamiliar feeling of having the soft fabric brush up against his bare legs. Once his legs were over the side of the bed, he carefully placed his feet on the firm carpet, wiggling his toes on the short fibers. He almost giggled at the ticklish feeling before noticing that Riku had placed his hand underneath Sora's good arm. "Come on, I'll help you stand."

Sora took in a deep breath as Riku pulled him upwards off the bed. "Woah!" Sora's whole body moved forward before Riku caught and stabilized him.

"Just don't move too fast. You might get dizzy. Just take it one step at a time."

Sora's eyes were wide as he held his breath; his uninjured hand was gripping onto Riku's sleeves for dear life as he looked at the floor beneath him. He felt so tall even though he was average height for a boy his age. He gulped again as he noticed his body start to be enveloped in a cold sweat. _'Just one step at a time…right.' _Finally making his decision to move, Sora lifted up his left leg first, not too high, because he didn't want to lose his balance again, but maybe only half a foot off of the carpet. He made to move it about a foot in front of him before his body leaned to the right. Thank goodness Riku was holding onto him or he might as well have fallen down. Once his left foot came in contact with the floor, he made the same move with his other foot, mimicking what he had seen Riku do when he walked across his room the night before. _'Just one foot in front of the other…'_ he kept repeating to himself. He hardly even noticed when he had successfully moved a couple feet away from the bed.

Riku shifted to the side, but he still had a firm grip on Sora's arm, "I'm going to let go now, okay? I know your legs may still hurt, but just try it."

Sora's mouth had gone dry as he looked up at Riku and nodded. His legs didn't hurt _too _much from being thrown around in the hurricane, but he just didn't know how to walk; if only Riku knew that _that _was why he was struggling so much with this task. Once he felt Riku's warm hand leave him, he shuddered slightly, afraid of falling over. After standing still for a good ten seconds he heaved in a huge breath before taking his first step on his own. He only wobbled slightly when one foot was in the air before placing it back down again, and soon enough he was walking, albeit awkwardly, but still. His eyes sparkled as he turned back to look at Riku, who had his arms folded across his chest and a smirk on his lips. "See? I knew you could do it."

A grin broke free on Sora's face, "I-I'm walking! I'm actually _walking!_" _'Dad, I'm walking!' _All of a sudden he wanted to jump up in the air and run around the manor, but Riku's voice stopped him. "Well, Sora, now that you can walk, it's time for breakfast." He laughed as he put a comforting hand on Sora's upper back, the thin fabric of his loose shirt being a barrier between their skin.

"Right!" Sora laughed as he jogged his way over to the stairs. It felt so exhilarating! He waited for Riku who was right behind him to go down the stairs first, so he could copy his movements. After a couple steps, Sora found out that he didn't really like walking down stairs too much. It hurt his knee caps.

"Oh! Riku!" Sora yelled, grabbing the older teen's attention. Sora caught up with him at the end of the stair case, "I still haven't thanked your master yet for letting me stay here." Sora seemed embarrassed as Riku lead him into the dining area, "Don't worry about it Sora. He should be up by now, so just thank him the next time you see him."

The brunette breathed out a calm sigh, "Right." He smiled again and for some reason he just couldn't stop. He has always been a happy kid, but right now, being somewhere new, and _walking…_it just made him excited. As long as he didn't think about his dad, he was smiling. _'He has to be okay…he just has to…' _Sora clenched his eyes shut before removing the sad thought from his mind and followed Riku over toward the long dinning table and chairs. Some other servants had already gathered there as well, and were looking at the brunette and whispering; some of the young servant girls were even waving and giggling before hiding their faces in their hands. Sora's cheeks immediately flushed and he turned away, trying to catch up to Riku.

The silverette laughed at the scene before pulling out a chair for Sora to sit in. Sora stared dumbfounded at the chair. _'Come on, Sora…it's just like getting up out of the bed…but reversed.' _He nodded toward Riku before bending his knees slightly to sit down. Thank goodness the chair was underneath him because his knees collapsed right when he was about to sit, sending the chair scooting back a couple of inches.

Riku smirked over to him while pushing in his chair, "You alright?"

"Um, yeah." Sora turned to him as the other boy took his seat next to him, "I just have to get used to it is all. My legs just kind of gave out."

The other boy nodded before turning his head toward the swinging doors. Out popped a large man with trays of food.

"Good morning, Maurice." Riku and some of the other servants greeted.

"Mornin'!" He smiled back as he placed the trays of plates and food on the table. He then took to passing out all of the plates to each person sitting down. Not too long after, another cook came out with pitchers of water, apple juice, orange juice, and milk. The servants took it upon themselves to get something to drink.

"What would you like to drink, Sora?" Riku turned to the younger boy. Blue eyes were focused on the unfamiliar drinks in front of him, "Uhm...that one." Sora pointed to the water, it was the one that looked the most familiar. "Alright." Riku made his way to get them two glasses of water from the pitcher, as well as some silverware for their breakfast.

Maurice took two plates of food over toward Sora, placing one in front of him, and the other in front of Riku's empty chair.

"Why, hello there young man! You must be the boy that our young Riku found after the hurricane."

"Y-yes, I am." Sora stuttered as the big man gave a jolly laugh and clapped a hand on his shoulder, "Well then, I hope you enjoy your stay here young man." He cheered before turning back toward the kitchen.

Riku made his way back over to the table, carrying two glasses of ice water.

"That's Maurice," Riku smiled as he gestured his head back toward the kitchen. "He's the head baker in the manor."

Sora silently nodded as his water was placed in front of him, and then he looked down at the plate. Two white circles with two smaller, yellow circles, in the middle, as well as some sausage. Sora only knew what the sausage was. He too, has had some sausage back at home, though it was made with crab and the like, instead of…whatever was in this one.

"Do you like eggs and sausage?" Riku inquired as he took his first bite.

'_Eggs?' _Sora raised a brow. These eggs sure didn't look like the eggs that he was used to back home. "Uhm, yeah. Of course I like them!" Sora put on a fake grin before grabbing a fork with his working hand and eating his own breakfast as well. Right when Sora's mouth clamped around his utensil an explosion of flavors that he has never tasted before came flooding into his mouth. Riku looked over and almost blushed at the expression that Sora was making before laughing out loud. He has never seen someone in so much ecstasy from eating breakfast before. He smiled to himself as he finished his plate. This kid sure was weird.

* * *

Leon sighed as he finished writing his acceptance letter to Fury Caraway, telling him that he was finally going to accept the proposal with his daughter. The whole thought of it made him angry, but he didn't really have a choice anymore. The damage that the latest hurricane had done was too extensive for his finances alone to take care of. It was just enough to help out the people and what they had lost, but not enough to fully finance the damaged buildings, although, after those expenses he would have none leftover if another natural disaster were to occur sometime soon.

He glared at the words that he had written in ink before setting it back on the wooden desk. He would wait for the ink to dry before folding it up in an envelope and sending it off.

He ran a hand through his silky brown locks. He really needed to get his mind off of this depressing situation that he was in. Rubbing at his brow with one hand he stood up, pushing in his chair with the other hand and leaving his study to make his way down to where his servants were having breakfast.

His mind was completely numb as he walked down the steps and into the dining area where his workers were eating. Once everyone noticed that their master was in the room they stopped eating and greeted him, "Good morning, Master Leon." They said in unison.

Sora had a mouthful of biscuits and eggs, some of the yolk dripping out the side of his mouth. He wiped it away with a napkin before gulping his food down with some water. "Good morning, Master Leon!" He smiled.

Leon looked at him, deadpanned. Riku then moved over and whispered in Sora's ear, "Don't call him Master Leon, Sora. You don't work for him. Just call him Leon unless he says otherwise."

Blue eyes widened and his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Oh! Uh-uhm, I mean, Leon, Sir!" Riku elbowed him softly in his ribs, "I mean Leon!" Now he was panicking as the master of the house walked leisurely over toward him, a small smirk on his lips. "It's alright, Sora. No need to panic around me."

Sora froze in his seat before he managed to choke out some words, "Oh! I uhm, I would like to thank you, Leon. For letting me stay here until I heal up and find my dad." He attempted to smile, but Leon could see the hint of pain hidden underneath his somewhat happy exterior. "It's no trouble, Sora. But more importantly, how are you feeling this morning?"

His deep blue eyes opened and Leon's posture became more relaxed. He bit the inside of his cheek as Sora stared at him, "I'm doing well! Thank you!" Sora attempted a grin and bowed his head slightly. The grey eyes of the elder man softened as he saw the soft spikes bounce slightly. When Sora moved to sit back up, Leon coughed and shook his head and turned toward the silverette. "Riku, what were your plans for today?"

Riku raised his eyebrows as he finished the food that was in his mouth. "Oh, uhm, just the regular chores, Sir."

Leon nodded slightly and placed his hand on the elder teen's shoulder, "You have no need for that today. Why don't you take Sora and show him around the island. But not too far, he is probably still tired."

"Island? This is an island?" Sora turned to both men in excitement.

"Sure is." Riku smirked as he took a sip of his water. "The famous Destiny Islands. Known for its national fruit, the Paopu fruit." Riku huffed in pride as he spoke of his hometown.

Sora's eyes lit up and he scooted in his chair. "No way! For real?! This is _the _Destiny Islands?!" Sora could hardly contain himself. These islands are where his father lived. He even recognized the part about the Paopu fruit. Cloud had told him that he and Squall had once shared one together before he had to go M.I.A.

This caused Riku to smile, "Yup, the one and only. This is the main island, but there are a few smaller islands just on the outskirts."

"Please, Riku!" Sora's eyes almost looked like they were pleading, "Please! Let's go out and look around, please!" Sora was practically begging.

Both Leon and Riku looked confused at the younger. This kid was really that desperate to go and explore the islands? Lot's of people come from around the world to take in the island's natural beauty, but Leon has never seen anyone that had wanted to see the island this badly.

Riku stuttered, "Ar-are you sure? You're not still too tired?"

The younger tan brunette shook his head quickly, "I promise."

Riku let out an amused sigh and shook his head, "Alright then. Once we are done with breakfast we will get you changed, and then we can head out. It's still pretty early in the morning, so you will get to see the hustle and bustle of the morning market held in the town square."

Sora then shifted in his seat and smiled. Not only was he going to have the opportunity to ask about Squall Leonhart, but he also was going to be able to explore a place that he had never even dreamed of seeing. "Alright!" he closed his eyes and grinned.

Leon looked at the two young boys, his eyes lingered longer on the young brunette. A small smile escaped his lips as he saw how happy he was. Shrugging his shoulders and letting out a small yawn, Leon then went to go into the kitchen to see how the chefs were doing.

* * *

Sora managed to walk back up the stairs and into the guest room with not much of a problem, although he did almost trip on his way up because he was so excited about getting to walk around Destiny Island.

Riku casually followed Sora up to his room, "There should be some clean clothes in the wardrobe for you. They should be about your size. I'll be waiting just outside of your room until you are ready." Riku smiled at the young boy and nodded, turning to wait outside of his room.

Sora hastily nodded back and went to check the huge wooden closet type structure that was holding some clothes. Sora pulled back the doors and scanned his eyes over the shirts and pants that were inside. There were even some shoes at the bottom of the closet as well. Shrugging out of his nightclothes, Sora went through each article of clothing, trying to see which would fit him best and be most comfortable for his adventures in the town.

* * *

"Alright Master Leon, we will be back in time for dinner!" Riku called as he waited for his master's response downstairs. Sora was in his new outfit for outdoors and he couldn't wait to go outside and explore the town. It was a combination of both possibly finding his dad and exploring someplace totally new to him.

As Riku opened the door, Sora followed, squinting his eyes due to the brightness of the sun. It had been a while since he had last been fully engulfed by the suns magnificent rays. He took in a huge breath and closed his eyes. The heat on his cheeks felt so nice and comforting, like being hugged by a soft warm pillow, but he also loved the coolness of the breeze from the sea, and the salty ocean smell that it gave to the air around him.

His smaller frame jolted out of his stupor when Riku put a hand on his back, leading him out onto the cobblestone road. Sora turned to look at his new companion and was star-struck by how the sun was reflected in the silverette's aquamarine eyes. "Wow…" Sora stared, a dazed smile on his face.

Riku arched a thin brow, "What? Do I have something on my face?" the elder then lifted up a pale finger to trace around his mouth, wiping away any food that he thought he had on his face. Sora laughed and grabbed his hand that was trying to wipe away invisible food from his mouth, "No, Riku. It's not that, it's just…your eyes are so amazing when the sun hits them like that." Sora's dark blue eyes stayed fixated on Riku's, although now, the silverette had flushed cheeks from Sora's comment. He didn't even think that Sora had known what he had said. He was still blushing when Sora's face burst out into a gigantic grin. Sora then grabbed Riku by the wrist with his uninjured hand and dragged him down the road, "Come on, Riku! I want to see Destiny Islands!" Sora laughed as he eventually let go of the elder's hand and Riku smirked as he caught up to the younger teen, "Alright Sora, just don't trip!" and soon enough, he found himself laughing along with the bubbly brunette as they made their way into town.

* * *

Leon watched the young boys take off from the window next to the entrance of the manor. There was something about that young storm survivor that drew him in. A soft smirk was at the edge of his lips when one of his servants addressed him, "Master Leon, this letter that was on your desk, is it ready to be sent?"

The master of the house let out an audible sigh and turned to rest up against the wall, arms folded as he looked at his servant dead in the eye. "It is ready to be sent, but I would like to take care of it myself."

The young servant bowed slightly and then took off to perform the other daily tasks that were assigned to him.

The walk back up the stairs for Leon was agonizingly slow. _'I don't even want to look at that letter again…but I must…'_

He let out a short cough as he made it to the top of the stairs and made for his chambers. When he got back, the maids were already in the process of making his bed and cleaning his glass doors that led out to the balcony overlooking the ocean.

Leon greeted them with a curt nod before heading into his study and retrieving the letter that would forever change his life. He stared lifelessly at the dark ink on the piece of parchment, explaining his situation and his gratitude for how loyal Fury Caraway has been to him this passed decade. His fingers felt numb as they lifted up the piece of paper, eventually folding it into thirds before placing it in a prepared envelope. He felt as if he was moving on autopilot as he placed the letter inside of its carrier. Rereading the address twice, just to make sure that it was correct, he made his way downstairs to wait for the coach to deliver the mail.

* * *

aaaaanndd it's finished! I honestly don't know why this chapter took me so long! ;-; in the **next chapter **we shall meet up with the merfolk again! :D please take the time to review to tell me what you think of the story so far! ^-^


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